


Blind Leading the Blind

by Winter_Genisis



Series: Tragic Love Duet [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: AU, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Depression, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Lots of Angst, Multi, PTSD, Romance, Self-Harm, Self-Hatred
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-11-19
Updated: 2014-09-11
Packaged: 2018-01-02 01:24:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1050862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Winter_Genisis/pseuds/Winter_Genisis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>THIS IS GOING TO BE ABANDONED AS I HAVE NO CLUE WHERE THE HELL THIS WAS GOING.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! This is the sequel the The Love Letter. I suggest you read that first before you read this, or you'll be pretty confused. Oh, and, if it's tough for you to continue reading after certain points, just do it. It's not as bad as it seems. Although, you'll only know that once you read this, the sequel :)
> 
> ~x~x~x~x~
> 
> SUMMARY: After waking up the hospital, Sakura begins on a long road of mental rehabilitation. But to her surprise, Neji is joining her on this journey. He hasn't been taking Hinata's death very well, and he feels responsible. Through group therapy, outings, and dark, terrifying nights, they develop a strong bond that just might blossom into love.
> 
> ~x~x~x~x~
> 
> Anyhow. For those who don't know, I publish at my own pace. This is the 4th fic I am currently working on. I am also planning to begin (or re-start, whatever works) an original work. I'm posting that in the Original Works tagged "fandom" that's not really a fandom. I'm also trying to get a job. Ahh, but, the point is, I'm doing a lot of things right now. Please check my profile for further information about things in general. :)
> 
> There are other pairings, and at first there's no real romance between Sakura and Neji. But that's the point. They fall in love, 'kay? There are also a few OC's. Maybe. I dunno yet.
> 
> ALSO. Lots of angst. Lots and lots of angst and PTSD. I'll put warnings for everything at the beginning of each chapter. Like this thing right here.......................................................
> 
> WARNINGS: implied self-harm in this chapter
> 
> Just like that. That was a real warning though okay?
> 
> Enjoy!

The first time that Sakura became aware she was in a hospital, she was still slipping in and out of consciousness. Her mind was swimming in outer space, a void somewhere just beyond clarity. Time marched on. She was vaguely aware of this fact, which most likely aided her cognitive ability when she truly awoke for the first time. Her eyes remained closed, yet she still gradually became aware of her surroundings. She deduced that she was restrained somehow, as she had limited, if any, mobility in her arms and legs. She wasn't too keen on moving her arms, anyhow, since they were attached to IVs. There was that dull, tingling pain in her arms, indicating the presence of the needles. The only thing that she couldn't figure out here was why she was in the hospital in the first place.

Tentatively, the pinkette opened up her eyes. That is to say, she forced her eyelids open. It felt as though she had been sleeping for days. Her eyelids were stiff and crusty, and her blurred vision was gradually clearing up. On Sakura's side of the room, there was a window. Through the two stiff, thick curtains she could tell that it was nighttime still. Her parents had pulled up chairs and were sleeping restlessly. She thought about speaking, but suddenly she was frightened of how her voice would sound to her. How long had it been since she'd last spoken? How long had she even been in this place? What if she'd just woken up from a coma? Fear began to overtake her rationale as question after question appeared and swirled around in the darkness of her mind. She still didn't know why they had restrained her. Had she done something wrong? Why couldn't she remember?

No. She had to remain calm. She was a medical student, after all, and in the technical sense she knew a lot about her current situation. Sakura closed her eyes once more. Perhaps when she woke up again, it would be daytime, and she would encounter someone that knew more of her current situation than she did.

And so it was, the second time she awoke, a nurse was in the bedroom, monitoring her vitals and taking notes. Sakura blinked, and attempted to speak, but nothing came out. When she gasped in surprise the nurse finally noticed.

"Oh! She's awake!" He exclaimed. "Just let me go and get the doctor."

Finally someone would be able to shed some light on this situation.

It really wasn't long before an important looking older woman joined Sakura. Her parents trailed after her worriedly, murmuring softly to themselves. Sakura hadn't even notices that they'd left the room.

"Sakura, I am your doctor, Tsunade." Sakura felt a rush of relief that she was receiving her teacher as her doctor. "Do you remember who your parents are?"

_Ahh._ Sakura thought blandly.  _The standard questioning._

But when Sakura opened up her mouth in an attempt to speak, once again nothing came out. She was quite perturbed by this, and her troubled expression did not go unnoticed by Tsunade.

"It's alright." The blonde said. "We'll see about your speech in a moment. You seem to be fairly cognizant, so we'll just be asking you yes and no questions. Now, answer by nodding or shaking your head if you remember who your parents are."

Sakura nodded. They were standing right there, staring at her with poorly concealed fright.

"Good." Tsunade nodded. "I can see your line of sight, so we'll just go to the next question. Do you know what day it is today?"

Sakura shook her head no. After all, she couldn't know something like that at this point.

"Do you know who the Hokage is?"

Sakura nodded.

"Is it someone that you could point out to me if I showed you a couple of pictures?"

Sakura nodded again.

"Alright," Tsunade shuffled through some files, getting out a paper with all of the Hokages on it. She placed it by Sakura's restrained right hand, saying, "Pick one."

Sakura pointed to Tsunade's picture. The woman nodded. "Good, good. Now if you can, pick our previous Hokage."

Sakura did so, but her patience was wearing thin. This was becoming tedious. Tsunade laughed, noticing her annoyance.

"Almost done. What's the last thing you remember? I will remove your restraints and you can write it down here." Tsunade said, indicating a notebook she was holding.

The last thing Sakura remembered was Sunday night, after the funeral. She had gone home during a thunderstorm, after discussing with Neji the contents of Hinata's suicide note. He had also told her to show it to Naruto, as well as another note that was for him alone. Then Sakura pretty much drank herself to sleep.

Tsunade looked the note over a couple of times and sighed. "As I thought," she began. "You have a slight memory lapse, and this puts it about a day before the… Erm, events took place." At Sakura's questioning expression, Tsunade shook her head. "That's enough for now. We'll talk more tomorrow. But, for now, I'd like you to try and stand up for me."

Sakura did so, slowly and carefully, but without issue. Tsunade nodded in approval.

"Good, good. That's all we'll do for today. I'll be back tomorrow to check on your progress. Your parents may remain until visiting hours end." Tsunade smiled. "Tomorrow I'll be coming with all the class work you've missed, so you can look forward to that!" With that she disappeared through the white doors of the private room.

Sakura sighed, glancing over at her troubled parents. They were sitting over in the chairs provided for them, whispering worriedly amongst themselves. It irked the pinkette endlessly, but what could she do? Glare at them? Because that would  _definitely_  help. They were just worried about her… But it was irritating. They acted as though she still slept. She could hear, and otherwise function, just her speech…  _Well,_ she assumed,  _it's probably just from the shock of… whatever happened._

She suddenly wondered if any of her friends knew about her, and if they had come to visit. She didn't want them to worry, since she was for all intents and purposes just fine. Her mind strayed to Naruto. He knew Tsunade very well. She'd ask her teacher if the bouncy blonde had stopped by at all.

It was all still a shock to Sakura. Not only the fact that one of her good friends was dead, but that Naruto of all people had slept with her. He wasn't the type to just do things like that, even intoxicated. No, she couldn't believe it. Well, okay, she believed it, but…  _It's still totally unbelievable… I mean, I thought Naruto preferred men…_

_Well,_  she doubled back on that thought,  _to_ prefer _a gender isn't to be straight or gay, so… I guess… what happened…_

She didn't want to think what happened was in the bounds of Naruto's conscience. It wasn't, but it was within the perimeter of his sexuality. So it was therefore… totally possible?

Was she really trying to rationalize his actions? But that meant that she blamed him to an extent.

_Of course I blame him. Damn it. I blame him for putting himself out there like that. It was consensual but Naruto never should have come onto Hinata. He already has someone… I can't imagine… I wonder if he knows yet…_

_Ugh._ Just the thought of Naruto's boyfriend (or ex-boyfriend, Sakura considered, depending on the current situation) made her shudder. She hoped that he would let Sakura try to comfort him some, but at the same time she was pretty sure she wasn't going to get anywhere with the aloof man.

Sakura sighed heavily and closed her eyes, a quiet groan escaping her lips. She honestly didn't know what to think of anything anymore.

* * *

It was strange. Nobody had come to visit Sakura.

"Why?" Sakura wrote on the notepad she was using to communicate.

Tsunade shook her head thoughtfully, handing the pinkette a pile of school work. "We need to slowly recover your memory of the last few days before we expose you to people who are already aware of the situation. But you understand, right? Think about it as though you were the doctor."

Sakura nodded, chewing on the pencil eraser. "So tell me," she scrawled quickly, "what exactly  _did_  happen?"

"I don't think you're quite ready…"

Sakura sighed in exasperation, and wrote, "Look, I am completely coherent. The only thing wrong with me right now is my speech—or lack thereof. I'm only going to be in here for a few more days so I suggest you stop coddling me."

Tsunade's eyes widened slightly at the written outburst. But, she laid her hand on Sakura's. "I'll bring in a psychologist. We'll talk later today. In the meantime I have other patients to tend to, but we'll tell you everything this afternoon."

Sakura nodded, taking a deep breath. Now, all she could do was wait.

But suddenly, there was loud commotion in the hallway. People were yelling. It sounded like a struggle. Sakura quickly got up grabbing her two IV poles, and scampered quietly to the door. The door had a window, thankfully.

One distressed voice rose above all the others. She knew who it was before she even saw him. Terrified lavender eyes flashed brightly through silken brown strands of hair, and their eyes met for a brief moment. Sakura's breath caught in her throat. It felt like an eternity. She was seeing something Neji would clearly never want her—or anyone else for that matter—to see. There was blood, lots of it, but it was mostly dry now. It was all over him, and Sakura couldn't tell where the wound was in the brief moment she had a clear view of him. It had been cauterized obviously, but where was it…? Sudden understanding of the situation came to her, though, when doctors and nurses descended upon Neji like a murder of crows. They remained like that for a while, struggling overtop Neji's body. So it seemed, but after barely a minute they removed themselves from Neji's personal space, revealing his restrained body upon a gurney. One of the doctors took out a syringe, and Sakura turned away. She couldn't continue watching this.

Back at her bed, Sakura carefully replaced the poles where they had been previously. She sat down and sighed. She wondered if this was affecting Neji as much as she thought. Hinata, that is. She wondered how he felt… Why he would go as far as to injure himself… Or, heaven forbid, had he tried to commit suicide?

_No, no way._ Sakura rationalized.  _Neji is very intelligent. He would actually plan out a less painful and less drawn out suicide than that…_

_These thoughts… What's with me? How morbid._

Pinning these thoughts as inappropriate, she flipped on the TV and hoped it would distract her.

It didn't.

But… it kept her occupied. She continued flipping channels until her lunch was brought in for her. It was then, when she was nearly half finished with the mediocre hospital food, that Tsunade walked in, another man—a giant—looming behind her.

What surprised Sakura was that behind that massive man, was Kakashi Hatake, a detective with the Konoha police department. She wasn't panicking because she knew this man well. But his presence made her uneasy. She wondered what could have happened that would warrant his appearance.

"Sakura, this is Dr. Choza Akimichi." Tsunade said, stepping to the side as the large man ambled forward.

Sakura had almost not recognized Choji's father, she hadn't seen him in so long. Grabbing the psychologist's extended hand, she returned his large, warm smile in kind.

"You've grown up quite a bit since I last saw you, young lady." Dr. Akimichi rumbled fondly.

Sakura's smile grew wider. She couldn't say anything back, and she felt somewhat awkward about that.

"Sakura," The pinkette returned her attention to Tsunade. "You know Kakashi. He's going to be sitting in here taking notes while we try and get you to recall the events."

Sakura nodded as Dr. Akimichi added, "If you feel uncomfortable or want to stop, just write that down or gesticulate in a way we would understand that you want to stop. None of use expect you to get your entire memory back in one day. We still have some time before you are discharged, so there is no pressure on you, okay?"

Now Sakura remembered why she always like Choji's dad so much. He was so warm and always had a way of making people feel better.

Kakashi had moved to lean against a wall on the opposite side or the room. He had a clipboard and seemed ready to write something down. Dr. Akimichi and Tsunade sat down in chairs next to Sakura's bed.

Dr. Akimichi leaned back into the chair and folded his hands over his large stomach. He took a deep breath. "Alright. Let's begin."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. I haven't posted an update for this fic in forever. My bad. Oh well, not like anyone is even reading this, right? :P Whatever, I don't really care.
> 
> Again, I will reiterate that I publish at my own pace. I'm fuckin' busy, okay? I'm a somewhat involved college student an I have shit to do. I'm always stressed. It sucks. But I do what I can pertaining to fanfics when I can.
> 
> WARNINGS: PTSD, memory loss due to traumatic incident
> 
> Enjoy!

"Now, I want you to understand that I know most of what happened on Monday—the day you seem to be drawing a blank for." Dr. Akimichi says quietly. "Do you know a Neji Hyuuga?"

I nod.

"Did he give you something the night before, Saturday night, after the funeral?"

I nod again, and begin writing. Dr. Akimichi waits patiently. I write that Neji gave me Hinata's suicide note, along with another note specifically for Naruto.

"Is something wrong?"

He'd noticed my writing slow down greatly. I inform him that my head aches. He nods but we continue. I suddenly realize with a small tinge of embarrassment as I realize I have yet to return Neji's suit jacket.

"Sakura?" Do you remember what your first class was on Monday morning? Who you sat next to?"

I try to remember… It's hard and… My head hurts. I write that of course I remember the class, it was "Evidence-Based Nursing," and I think I may have sat next to a girl named Miki.

"What was your next class?"

That was my lab research time for my epidemiology class.

"Did you and your lab partners get anything done?"

I… feel like we did? Urgh. I start writing what I think happened… but… I'm just, I'm getting confused, and my head is really starting to pound!

"Good, good. That's right." Dr. Akimichi nods at what I have written, and he jots a couple notes in his book. "Can you tell me what happened after that?"

I write down that I usually go and have lunch with some friends in one of the courtyards on campus.

"And…" Dr. Akimichi glances to the side, seeming for a moment to hesitate. This momentary hesitation plants the seed of anxiety in my stomach. "And, who did you see during lunch on Monday?"

I begin writing names: Ino, Tenten, some random blonde chick that came around with—No. No no no. No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no the note it's my fault don't let him see keep it away KEEP IT AWAY don't let him see it let him die YOU WATCHED HIM DIE YOU KILLED HIM I can't breathe I can't breathe there's so much blood I can't breathe it's all over me why can't I scream I just want to die it should have been me it should have been me all the blood he's dead I killed him I killed him I could have saved him THEM I can't breathe what is on my face oh nooooo no no no no no no NO GET IT OFF DON'T TOUCH ME GET AWAY FROM ME YOU'RE KILLING ME DON'T TOUCH ME I DON'T WANT

* * *

When I wake up, I am disoriented. I don't know what time it is. I am in a different room, I recognize that much. But it's the same ward… I believe….

A nurse comes in to check on me. She sees that I am awake and smiles at me. I look around, trying to find my notepad and pen, but am unable to. And she is gone.

Ugh. Oh well. Still a bit disoriented, I look around the room and I don't see my parents. They must have gone home. I rise, very careful in the event that I am connected to any IVs. It would seem that I am not… My finger is, however, hooked to a machine monitoring my pulse.

I wonder…

It occurs to me briefly that the door might be locked, but of course it isn't. That would be rather silly. I'm not in the psych ward, for goodness sake!

I wonder…

I wonder if that really  _was_ Neji that I saw the other day… If so, what was going on? Is he here? He could be in this very same hallway…

I think I'll look around for him.

I wander down the hallway. To be completely honest, I'm pretty nervous. I hope nobody catches me and scolds me for leaving my room.

Each room has a small window on the door, but it's a smoked window. However, if you cup your hands over it, you can just barely see inside…

So far, no luck. But I resolve to keep going, if only for the sake of being out of my room just a little bit longer.

I suppose I'm lucky that I haven't run into a doctor or a nurse that recognizes me. The halls aren't exactly empty, and it's hard to do this sort of thing discreetly. More than one person has given me an odd look so far…

Wait…

That's him!

I attempt to open the door, but it won't open! What the hell! Is it—is it jammed or something?

Come to think of it, just waltzing into his room while I'm sneaking out of  _my_  room like this—or at all really—is pretty weird.  _Maybe_ even a little bit creepy.

But something is obviously wrong. They wouldn't just lock the doors for no reason. I think back to earlier and the irony of the thought of the psych ward suddenly hits me.

What the heck is up with this situation…

I'm headed back to my own room again… But this time, I am not as lucky.

I see Tsunade, and Naruto's guardian Jiraiya. He looks… distraught.

Ow, shit!

The sudden stabbing pain in my head causes me to stumble. The machine monitoring my heartbeat clatters when as it lurches along with me.

Tsunade's sharp eyes dart over to me, and I feel suddenly like an insect pinned to the wall. She doesn't look surprised that I'm out here. Merely… exasperated?

"We will continue this in my office." I hear her murmur. "Sakura," she calls, walking toward me. "Come." She grabs my arm, and I actually lean into her. It is only now that I realize how tired I am… Oh man… Maybe this wasn't a good idea. It's an effort just to stand! This is so frustrating!

"Let's get you back to your room." She says. "It's not far."

* * *

I've been waiting for Dr. Akimichi for a while, now. He's going to restart his therapy session. I don't remember what happened last time. All I remember was that I blacked out, and woke up. Again, very frustrating.

In situations like these it is common to try more abnormal methods of extracting thoughts such as hypnosis. Well, I suppose we shall see if that's what's going to happen. Although, hypnosis is said to be unreliable as the patient can fake being under a spell, and ultimately, can to lie to the doctor…

Can I even be put under hypnosis if I can't speak? Hmm. Probably. I'm thinking that the hypnosis will lift my inability to speak unless it has become a deeply rooted psychological problem. If so, I will be able to relate what exactly is going on…

Okay. Well, honestly, it's not even my problem whether it works or not. Well it  _is_ my problem. But whether or not Dr. Akimichi chooses to use it or not is not my problem. Yeah.

I'm still just a med student and I'm trying to act like a freakin' doctor… A psychiatrist at that! I just need to lay back and let them take care of me…

However… seeing Jiraiya…

Why hasn't Naruto come to visit me?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another super short chapter...
> 
> I don't really know why these couple chapters are so short. Maybe the next will be longer. Whatever. I don't wanna force it, ya know?
> 
> If you are so inclined, please leave a review! They are greatly appreciated :)

**Author's Note:**

> Ahh, this was a short chapter... But I didn't want to write too much, ya know? I want the chapters to flow together, within the chapters and without.
> 
> That aside, please review! I won't respond to any flames. Okay? Constructive criticism is welcomed!


End file.
